HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGES RETURN
by Kat-Hathaway
Summary: Jorin Mage has returned to the British Isles from Canada after 30 years to teach History of Magic. His return heralds new possibilities for both Harry and Voldemort. Which side will gain the unimaginable power of a true Mage?
1. New Student, New Teacher

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I really DO own, Jo, Jen and Tom.  
  
HARRY POTTER AND THE MAGE'S RETURN  
By Kat  
CHAPTER ONE: NEW STUDENT, NEW TEACHER  
  
Ixana Mage made her solitary way down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express hugging her cat Sam just a little too tightly to her chest. Normally, the honey colored tabby would protest at this treatment, but Sam, like most cats, could sense his mistress' distress and so, being a kind sort of cat, he allowed her to squish him a little in reassurance. Sam had been the only constant in Ix's life for four years, that and being solitary, but recently her life had gone through such a major upheaval, it was no wonder she was clinging to her tabby.  
  
Ix had spent the last four years going the Old Tara School of Magic in Ireland, and though they hadn't been happy years, she was still nervous about her transfer to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She had no idea what Hogwarts was like, and she was sure that if nothing else, she would miss the Tara school itself.  
  
Old Tara was a beautiful place. The school was held in the old underground palace of the Sidhe, and though the High Faeries had long gone, the palace still held all of the majesty and wonder of the Sealy Court.  
  
The people however, had not been so majestical or wonderful. For the first three years of her enrolment there, her fellow students and teachers had been content to ignore Ix as much as possible. Ix hadn't really minded this, she was a hermit at heart, and all she needed in life was Sam and her art and magic. But last year, with the increasing threat of Voldemort and the confirmation of his return at the end of the year had turned everyone at Old Tara decidedly against her. They had been so hostile towards her and made her life so miserable that when she had returned home for the summer holidays she had burst into tears (something she rarely did in public) and refused to ever return to that school again.  
  
Her father had ranted and raved, sent angry owls to the Headmaster and accused him of prejudice and bigotry. When he received no reply, Ixana's mother had glanced at her doleful daughter and decided firmly that she would be transferred to Hogwarts for the remainder of her schooling.  
  
So it was that Ixana now found herself nervously looking for a compartment on the Hogwarts Express on the first of September, about to start her fifth year of Wizard's school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
  
She absentmindedly fell over a round-faced boy who had been kneeling on the ground.  
  
"Ow. Sorry." Ix mumbled blushing a little in embarrassment.  
  
"Oh, no, I'm sorry," said the boy, blushing as well, "I was looking for my toad, have you seen him?"  
  
Ixana shook her head no and the boy gave a long-suffering sigh.  
  
"This always happens," he moaned, "I don't understand why Trevor insists on always disappearing!"  
  
"Maybe Sam can help?" Ixana asked, holding her cat up for inspection. Sam closed his eyes and purred, "He's very smart." Ix assured the boy.  
  
"Oh really? That would be brilliant! My name's Neville Longbottom, I don't believe we've met before," Neville stood up and reached out a hand to help Ixana up to her feet.  
  
"My name's Ixana," Ixana replied. It was amazing, she hadn't even got to the school yet and she was already meeting people. Hogwarts must be a fantastic place.  
  
"Are you a Hufflepuff or something?" Neville asked politely as Ix asked Sam to find Trevor and but her cat to the ground.  
  
"Sorry what?" Ix asked.  
  
"I asked if you were a Hufflepuff. I was wondering why I've never seen you before."  
  
"You haven't seen me before because I just transferred here from Old Tara. What's a Hufflepuff?"  
  
"Oh!" Exclaimed her companion. Here it comes, Ix thought, he'll find out why I left and then he'll start ignoring me like everyone else.  
  
Neville however, did nothing of the sort. He simply started to follow Sam and explain about the Houses at Hogwarts.  
  
"I thought for sure I would be a Hufflepuff," He confided, "But the sorting hat put me in Gryffindor. I still haven't really figured that one out. Ah! Trevor! Thanks Ixana!" Neville bent down eagerly to scoop up a very large toad. Ixana noticed that the toad looked extremely put out by the fact that it had been found.  
  
Neville proceeded to lead Ix to a compartment, talking brightly about all the teachers at Hogwarts and his favorite subject, which was Herbology, and consequently the only subject he did well in.  
  
"Really?" Ix asked in interest, "My mother owns an Herbology shop."  
  
Neville's entire face lit up and the two students chatted happily about magical plants, Neville barely stopping for breath as he opened the door to a compartment and sat down in one of the seats, motioning for Ix to sit across from him.  
  
"Going to introduce us Neville?" asked an amused female voice. Both Neville and Ixana started and turned around to stare at a girl with bushy brown hair and a prefect's badge pinned to her robes sitting next to Neville.  
  
"Oh! Hermione! This is Ixana, she just transferred from Old Tara." Neville explained going slightly red in the face.  
  
"Old Tara? Where's that?" asked a boy sitting in a corner. Ixana turned to look at him and realized with a shock of recognition (triggered by the lightning shaped scar on his forehead) that she was sitting in a train compartment with Harry Potter.  
  
"Meath, in Southern Ireland. Honestly, don't you read?" Hermione asked in an exasperated tone.  
  
"Not often," Harry replied lightly. Ixana got the feeling that this was well-trodden ground, and also that Hermione and Harry were very old, and very good friends.  
  
"Why did you transfer?" Asked a tall boy with flaming red hair, freckles and a long nose. He also was wearing a badge.  
  
It was the question she'd been dreading. Ixana tried to speak but couldn't find the proper words to explain it all.  
  
"Oh leave her alone Ron," said a girl who was obviously his sister, "that's her own business."  
  
"I only ASKED, Ginny, you don't have to bite my head off!" Ron replied hotly.  
  
"So, what year are you in Ixana?" Ginny asked, smoothly ignoring her brother.  
  
"F- fifth," Ix told her.  
  
"Brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed, "So am I! I hope you get into Gryffindor, we can study for our OWLs together."  
  
Ix smiled at her, and was about to reply when the door burst open and in walked a pale, sneering boy flanked by what looked like a pair of hairless Gorillas. Harry and Ron immediately stood up and glared at them. Ginny looked apprehensive, Neville a little scared and Hermione (Ix was starting to notice that this was a common expression on her face) looked exasperated.  
  
"What do you want Malfoy?" Harry growled coldly.  
  
"I'm just taking a look around Potter," the pale boy sneered in what Ixana supposed was an attempt at innocent indignation, "I'm allowed to do that aren't I?"  
  
"Well take a look somewhere else Malfoy before I hex you!" Ron snarled.  
  
"Tsk, tsk," Malfoy shook his head, "And this is how a prefect acts on the first day of school? You'll lose your badge Weasley if you're not careful."  
  
"And you'll lose a lot more if you don't leave us alone!" Harry snapped, "I'm sick of you Malfoy! I'm warning you, I doubt I'll be in the mood to tolerate your crap this year. You'd better watch it."  
  
"My "crap" is what's going to get tolerated, Potter, just you wait! You're on the losing team, I warned you, but you wouldn't listen. The Dark Lord will have his revenge, and so will I!"  
  
Ixana stared in alarm at the unfolding drama. Harry and Ron looked as if they would turn into wolves any minute and rip Malfoy's throat out. Ginny and Hermione placed restraining hands on Ron and Harry's shoulders respectively.  
  
"Get off me Ginny!" Ron yelled.  
  
"Yeah, let him go, let's see what the Weasle can do!" Malfoy sneered.  
  
"Is anything wrong?" asked a polite voice behind Malfoy.  
  
Malfoy jumped around and stared at the tall figure behind him squeaking "who the Hell are you?!" in his surprise.  
  
The man sighed much in the same way Hermione had.  
  
"Please don't use such language. It's unbecoming. My name is Jorin Mage and I'm you're new History of Magic teacher. I repeat: is anything wrong?"  
  
Malfoy was saved from answering (which he did not seem very capable of doing anyways) by Ixana giving a shrill squeal and fighting her way past the three Slytherins to attach herself delightedly to Professor Mage's middle.  
  
"Uncle Jo!" She trilled, "What are you doing here? I'm so happy to see you!"  
  
"Ix!" Jo said happily ruffling her hair. "How's my favorite niece?"  
  
"I'm your only niece." Ix pointed out.  
  
"That's true." Jo smiled, "I told your dad not to tell you I was coming here to teach. I wanted it to be a surprise." He held her at arms length, peering anxiously at his nieces face. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle took the opportunity to sneak away, while Hermione took the opportunity to notice that Ix and Jo did in fact look remarkably similar. They were both tall and lean, and they both had the exact same color hair, which was a surprising shade of goldish orange. The only real differences she could remark (besides the obvious disparity in age and sex) was that Professor Mage's eyes were dark forest green and Ixana's were light turquoise and Ixana had long wavy hair tied untidily in a ponytail whereas her uncles was, well, kind of all over the place. It was actually quite similar to Harry's.  
  
"I heard what happened Ix," Jo was saying seriously now, looking down at his niece, "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"  
  
Ix could feel the tears start to well in her eyes at her favorite uncles words but she forced them down and nodded. She turned abruptly and introduced him to the rest of the people in the compartment. When she got to Harry, Jo stared at him for a long time, an unreadable look on his face. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes: he was use to it.  
  
"Umm... Sir?" Hermione asked, breaking the silence.  
  
"Yes Hermione?" Jo asked smiling at her so that his eyes crinkled. He smiles like Lupin, Hermione thought suddenly, and got an inexplicable conviction that he would be a great teacher.  
  
"Well, you said that you are our new History of Magic teacher. Uh, what happened to Professor Binns?"  
  
"The Headmaster laid him to rest. It took a lot of conversations via magic mirror to convince Professor Binns that I was, in fact, an adequately competent History teacher, but in the end he seemed satisfied to leave his class in my care and finally make the final journey."  
  
"Magic Mirror?" Harry asked, putting this fact and his accent together in his mind, "Are you American?"  
  
"Canadian," Professor Mage answered, "I was actually born in Ireland, but I moved to Canada when I was one." He smiled around at the company, "Well, I will be seeing you all soon," he looked at his watch, "We should be arriving at Hogsmede Station shortly." He gave Ixana a light squeeze on the shoulder and walked down the corridor. When he was safely out of sight Ginny got up to close the compartment door.  
  
"Wow Ix," she said, "your uncle is brilliant!"  
  
Hermione nodded in agreement.  
  
A/N: Thanks to my mommy for editing this story, and thanks to Fred for the wonderful ideas and suggestions. I'm sorry that there is so many Original Characters, it started with Ix, but I didn't have a plot, then when I thought of Jo as the new teacher, and the fact that Ix and Jo are both named "Mage" (completely coincidental by the way) the plot just fell into place. And I couldn't have Jo without Tom and Jen; they are all characters from a comic I will hopefully someday write. Besides, there are entirely too little Canadian characters in the world, so here is my contribution of three. Though Jen is actually only a resident. If you don't like OC, then don't read this, but they are such lovely characters, please give them a try? *Huggles,* Kat. 


	2. The Sorting

Ch. 2: Sorting  
  
The train came to a shuddering halt and Ix felt as if her heart had stopped with it. As the entire student body pushed it's way out of the Hogwarts Express Ixana could feel panic start to build up in her chest. She was clutching poor Sam so tightly that he had to resort to scratching her and jumping free from her arms. Luckily Ginny felt Ixana's distress and she lightly squeezed her hand.  
  
"You'll be fine." She whispered giving Ix a smile and a push in the right direction, "say 'Hi' to Hagrid for me."  
  
Ixana looked to where Ginny had pointed and saw an enormous man holding a lantern. Ginny waved to him and he waved back at her, the lantern light twinkling brightly in his small beetle black eyes and bushy beard twitching slightly in a grin.  
  
"Firs' years! Firs' years," he called to the crowd, beckoning the little students forward, "An' you too Ms. Mage." Hagrid added smiling at Ixana.  
  
Ginny gave Ixana another small push forward and then turned to go with the others. Ixana found herself alone with the group of first years and Hagrid. She felt distinctly out of place.  
  
"All righ' there firs' years?" Hagrid asked looking around the group, "let's go then!"  
  
Hagrid led them through a dark and winding path. Finally it opened up to reveal the breathtaking view of Hogwarts castle twinkling across the clear lake that mirrored the star-strewn sky. As they crossed the lake in their little boats, Ixana felt as if she were floating in space with stars all around. She sighed and gazed at the beckoning warm light that shone from Hogwarts' many windows. Tara had had an unearthly, almost unbearable beauty, but the lights of Hogwarts made you feel like you were coming home.  
  
All too soon the journey across the lake was over and Hagrid was leading them to the great front doors of the castle. Ixana's nervousness returned as Hagrid knocked and the doors opened to reveal a stern looking woman. Ixana suddenly remembered having dropped Sam and was soothed slightly to find him by her ankles as usual. She picked him up, but was careful not to squeeze him.  
  
"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take it from here." The woman said curtly. Hagrid nodded and left, the woman turned and led the children into a classroom.  
  
Before Ixana could go in, Professor McGonagal stopped her.  
  
"Ms. Mage, you are not a first year, but you will still be sorted into a house. I know it is awkward for you to be sorted with the first years, but it is the tradition to be sorted in front of the whole school."  
  
Ixana nodded swallowing. IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL! AGAIN? She thought. She had, of course, been sorted at Tara, and the experience had been slightly humiliating. At Tara, the new students had to place their hands on to the ancient king's stone. When touched, the stone (which was pure white) turned the colour of your aura. Depending on what colour your aura was you would be sorted intone of the six houses (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) but Ixana's had been so dark that everyone had thought it was black and couldn't figure out where to place her. Eventually they had realized that her aura was actually an extremely dark red and had sorted her accordingly, but the incident had still left scars: nobody wanted to associate with the girl with the "black" aura.  
  
Ix was shaken from her rememberings when she noticed the other students filing back out of the classroom.  
  
Professor McGonagal led them into the Great Hall and along the raised dias in front of the teacher's table. Uncle Jo waved at her and smiled encouragingly. Ixana could feel the answering smile spread across her face. She grinned at him and put her two thumbs up. Jo always made her feel braver. It was one of his talents.  
  
Once the children were lined up, Professor McGonagal took out a stool and placed it in front of the wide-eyed students. On it was a tattered, bedraggled wizard's hat. Ixana stared at it. What would she have to do with the hat? Was it going to predict her aura too? She felt a knot constrict in her stomach. What if they couldn't tell the difference between the colour of her aura and the natural black of the hat? What if- What if...?  
  
A tear near the brim of the hat opened, and the hat began to sing.  
  
"Welcome young and welcome old To a story that's many times been told I shall tell you an interesting story About four men and four qualities  
  
Ravenclaw was smart and quick So youngens, I am going to pick The ones who are sharp and quick of wit When danger stirs, they do not sit.  
  
Hufflepuff was a very good woman She's an extra leg, if you need help to stand Hufflepuffs are loyal to their friends, And stick with it until the end.  
  
Slytherin was like a snake Sly and smart, not tolerant of mistakes So if you are in the Slytherin house You have presence, not like a mouse.  
  
Gryffindor was good and proud Gryffindors do not hide, they're somewhat loud. Courageous and bold, but sometimes hasty They always put up a fight; they are good, and feisty.  
  
So now I will sort each into the clans And you will live in the house for the span Of your high school years Making enemies and friends of peers  
  
So come and sit under me It's not so stressful, you will see So I will leave you from my rhymes, All I have to say is have a good time!"  
  
The four tables of students erupted into cheers once the hat finished its song. Professor McGonagal waited impatiently for the noise to die down holding a roll of parchment  
  
"Ixana Mage." She read.  
  
Ixana's eyes darted around the room. Everyone was staring at her intently. She didn't know what they expected her to do. So she did the most logical thing she could think of: She sat on the stool and put on the hat.  
  
The hat fell to just below her eyes and she could still see out the bottom if she strained.  
  
"Now what?" Ixana thought.  
  
"Hmm..." said a voice inside her ear. Ixana almost knocked over her chair in surprise. "Don't be frightened Ixana Mage, I'm just a hat."  
  
Ixana's eyes widened and she stared at the inside of the hat.  
  
"Definitely a Gryffindor." the hat said.  
  
"What?!" Ixana asked the hat. If she remembered correctly, the song had said that Gryffindors were courageous. "And you aren't brave?" The Hat asked Ixana. Ixana shook her head, how could someone as shy as her be brave? She'd never been brave enough to maker her own friends. Would she have been less lonely, had she been brave?  
  
"No, you had the courage to stand alone." The hat told her, and deep down, Ixana had to acknowledge that. It hadn't been entirely that she had been shunned or that she hadn't been courageous enough to make friends; She hadn't wanted to make friends. Not with people who would judge her by something as stupid as the colour of her aura, or her last name...  
  
Ixana smiled at the hat.  
  
"See," it said, "I told you, you were a GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted out this last word for everyone to hear.  
  
The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers. Ixana grinned and shakily made her way to the table where her new friends waited. Ron clapped her on the shoulder, and Ginny hugged her briefly, Hermione grinned at her, Harry gave her thumbs up, and Neville smiled. The Creevy brothers shook her hand enthusiastically, introducing themselves. Ixana couldn't help but grin like a maniac. She hadn't felt this happy in five years, except for the time when she was thirteen and had spent the summer with Uncle Jo and his best friend Tom in Montreal; and even that time had been tainted with the knowledge that she'd have to return to Tara.  
  
Ixana glanced up at the Teacher's table. Uncle Jo was beaming at her proudly. He winked at her and she gave him the victory sign.  
  
Ron nudged Ginny and Seamus who were sitting on either side of him.  
  
"Hey, check out the blonde!" he grinned nodding towards a blonde woman sitting next to Snape. She was smiling at him and talking. Snape was scowling ever so slightly back.  
  
"Oh!" Ixana said in surprise, "That's Jen!"  
  
"Who?" Everyone asked, turning to Ix.  
  
"Umm...She worked with my uncle in Montreal. I wonder why she's here too?" Ixana explained.  
  
"What's her name?" Hermione asked curiously.  
  
"Jen, uh, Jenya Lefay."  
  
"Lefay? You don't mean...?" Ron asked, glancing at Hermione.  
  
"She must be. No one else would have the last name Lefay." Hermione said somewhat disdainfully.  
  
"What?" Asked Harry, glancing between them, "I'm feeling out of the loop again..."  
  
"She's descended from Morgan Lefay." Hermione explained. Harry still looked baffled.  
  
"King Arthur's sister? The priestess of Avalon?" Hermione prompted.  
  
"Ooooh..." Harry said slowly, glancing at the blonde woman with a bit more respect.  
  
But then she giggled. A clear, tinkling, silvery giggle. Harry and Hermione frowned at her.  
  
"Shh! The Sorting's over." Ginny hissed.  
  
Dumbledore rose and beamed at the assembled students. Ixana liked him immediately.  
  
"Please enjoy." he said simply. He then sat down once more and started to take food from the platters that had suddenly appeared before them.  
  
Meanwhile, Jen had turned her attention from the surely Professor Snape to Jo.  
  
"What's the matter Jo?" She asked cheerfully, "You look odd."  
  
Jo seemed startled to be spoken to. He glanced at Jen and gave her a small smile.  
  
"Oh it's nothing..." Jo said, starting to load his plate with food, "I was just missing Tom."  
  
"I swear," Jen sighed, rolling her eyes, "it's like you two are married. Though I'll admit it *is* strange to see you here without him."  
  
Jo smiled again, a little ruefully this time, "I was just thinking that if he were here, he'd be making elaborate plans on climbing to the ceiling of his hall."  
  
" And why on Earth would he want to do such a thing?" Snape sneered.  
  
Jo shrugged, "Just because. That's how Tom is."  
  
"Well, I'm glad he isn't here then." Snape said, "A teacher like that would have a very bad influence on some of the students. It would be just like Potter and his gang to actually try to carry out a scheme like that."  
  
Jo chuckled. "I suppose he would be, at that. He was quite the rebel in high school. I wont even *tell* you the story of how Tom got the Key." "Don't ask!" Jen warned Snape, rolling her eyes, "It's Jo's favourite story. He tells it over and over again."  
  
Eventually, even Ron could eat no more. At this point the plates disappeared and Dumbledore once more rose to speak.  
  
He began with his usual list of regulations and the additions to Filche's banned objects, and then finally came to the new teachers.  
  
"And now it is my very great pleasure to introduce to you the new members of our staff who have both come all the way from Canada in order to have the pleasure of teaching you. First of all, please give a warm welcome to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Jenya Lefay." Everyone clapped as Jen stood and smiled brilliantly to the crowd. Harry noticed in slight amusement that it was mostly the male students who were clapping hardest, but still anyone was better than Umbridge! He admitted that professor Lefay, was very pretty, but blondes weren't his type.  
  
The clapping died down and Dumbledore continued.  
  
"Next, I would like you all to welcome your new History of Magic teacher, Jorin Mage." Again the clapping was enthusiastic. At least professor Mage was ALIVE! He was bound to be more interesting than professor Binns.  
  
Once again the clapping died down and Dumbledore looked around at his students.  
  
"This year," he said, "is going to be a challenge. Besides the regular challenges of getting good grades and winning house points and Quidditch matches, you will also have the challenge of having two new teachers. As well, soon, I believe, the entire wizarding community will have the challenge of Voldemort on their hands." Dumbledore gazed warmly at his students, "but for hundreds of years Hogwarts has stood the test of many, more difficult challenges. I have faith in Hogwarts, and I have faith in you. Now have a good night, and may you wake full of the vigour and determination that makes Hogwarts strong."  
  
And with those solemn words, the students left the Great Hall. 


End file.
